JackZodiac

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Are you really gonna' unmask her? I heard she has a wicked-huge scar, like... Dr. Doom huge.

[/ QUOTE ]

Dr. Doom does NOT have a huge scar. It's a small scar which he (in his evil vanity) could only percieve as disfiguring. It's when he put on the scalding hot mask fresh from the forge that his face got...well...let's just say "not pretty."

This is an unofficial message without the support or consent of Doctor Doom or Marvel Comics Official Continuity (since the writers of Doom actually seem to be debating this issue as time goes on). Thank you, and remember: anything you do advances the plans of Doom, whose benevolent rule has been proven to be the most secure and prosperous the world has ever known. All you must do is admit the superiority of Doom.

[/ QUOTE ]

That was part of a What If... ? issue. I like the idea that Doom is so narcissistic that a simple scar on his chin would ruin his image. However, I like the idea that the devil scratched the [censored] out of his face when he looked into Hell to find his mother a lot more.

Awesome. I'm glad you covered Vrabel and the Titans Project in the classified document. Very nice touch for the folks who may never finish those arcs, or who did and didn't bother to read deeply into it.

I'd love to see a Knives of Artemis exposé next.

Are you really gonna' unmask her? I heard she has a wicked-huge scar, like... Dr. Doom huge.

Matt's stepping up as Lead Designer. Jack's still there, and he's still developing with the rest of the Cryptic staff. He's just stepped out of the Lead position.

[ QUOTE ]
So, if you're going to complain about a mob being too hard... tell us at what difficulty level, please.

[/ QUOTE ]

There's a difference between something being too hard (to kill) and too dangerous. On Villainous, solo, my brute had a hell of a time trying to kill one Ghost and one SWAT. I was in no real danger, because their damage was pitiful and my damage resistance is pretty nice, on top of my two heals. However, I could barely dent them, because their debuffs were astronomical and stacked plenty of times. Against one Ghost and one SWAT, my accuracy was [censored] and I was crawling from one to the other through a swamp of glue. If I'd been teamed on villainous with anything other than a kinetics corruptor, I would've been there for the duration of the mission dealing with minions.

That's the only issue I have with the new mobs. In a mission where time is the key concern, adding a plethora of mobs who debuff you to ridiculous degrees and further eat up your time is unfair, especially when defeating them awards an unimpressive thirty seconds to the minute and a half you wasted on them. Other than that (and Malaise being a giant [censored] hole), I had no problem with my Mayhem Mission. I haven't had a lot of time to test lately, though, but even with decent lockdown tactics, we're talking about a lot of time wasted for a little bit of compensation.

[ QUOTE ]
Ran the mish, got an Elite Boss (Malaise) on solo villainous. He also had a swarm of mobs with him. Got destroyed in short order. Broke out of the clink, peeled off all the other mobs but one, then got beat soundly again.

Broke out again, got beat up again, threw up my hands and walked away.

I like the *idea* of the mayhem missions, and it was fun until I slammed into the brick wall of Malaise, but the stupidity of having to beat up an Elite Boss after every five missions does *not* appeal to me. I run solo, and I can usually take them out with a lot of sweating, and ususally run on Relentless the rest of the time, but this was not doable, unless I'm missing something about the missions that I'm *supposed* to be doing that the mission isn't telling me to do.

Oh, and a bug...dunno if this has been mentioned, but I had a van I couldn't hit right outside the bank. I could target it, and it was *partially* damaged, but every time I tried to shoot it, beat it up, whatever, it would tell me I was out of ranged. (Standing right next to it with a ranged power.)

[/ QUOTE ]

See! I think it's just Malaise! I soloed the balls off of Infernal, Backalley Brawler, Aurora Borealis, and Sea Witch all as AVs bumped down to EBs, but Malaise is just too much. All those debuffs, all those pets, an unresistable fear, and more damage than any controller should ever do. I think it's just him who's overpowered, though the ambush mobs for the end of the mission should be thought out again.

[ QUOTE ]
This thread is solely for Mayhem Mission discussions.

[/ QUOTE ]

Okay, I did my first Mayhem Mission earlier today with my level 35 brute. I failed. Rather, I quit after my second death because I had to get ready for work. But here's how it went down.

I'm dropped off in Brickstown with fifteen minutes to get to the bank, rob it, defeat whatever hero is sent after me, and then escape. Naturally, the first thing I did was blow up some cars. And man, was it fun! I trashed the [censored] outta' some cars! One-hit a few trucks and smashed the hell out of some fire hydrants. Got a few extra minutes to play around with, so I went hunting for some of those new cops.

These guys are almost as bad as Malta! Not damage-wise, because they barely dented me, but I couldn't hit 'em for [censored]! They debuffed me worse than an eight-man defender team in Siren's Call. I was crawling slower than I have since I faced some Knives of Artemis, and my accuracy was worse than it is fighting Nerva demons. These guys are annoyingly unbalanced, especially considering how there hasn't been a hint of a hint about how the Paragon City Police Department went from sniveling, skipping pansy patrol officers to ex-Marines with robot back-up. They need to be toned down a little, or they need to give much more than a thirty second reward for fighting. It takes at least twice as long to take out three of them.

Still, at this point I'm having a load of fun. Then I get to the bank. First of all, thank you for letting us target and terrorize civilians! That's awesome, but they need to react like they're being attacked and brutalized. No death, no loss of life, just some responsive animations. If I hit a civie with Air Superiority, they should go flying through the air and land hard on their back. They should curl into a ball when I hit 'em with Touch of Fear. Still, this is a good start.

Anyway, I proceed through the bank like a normal heist mission, kill some guards, rip the vault door off its hinges, and then I turn around and wait for my ambush. Well, I was expecting the private security guards. That's how it normally goes. And I was expecting my hero ambush (though I wasn't expecting Malaise for various reasons). I wasn't expecting more Paragon City Police to ambush me. So, they I am, solo, on Villainous, private security with their measly damage, the Paragon City Police Department with their ridiculous debuffs and minimal damage, and Malaise, his three spectral soldiers, and his spectral terror, and their confusion, their debuffs, and their ungodly damage. That was when the fun ended.

I understand that Mayhem Missions are supposed to be crazy. You charge into Paragon City and take all the hits as they throw hero after hero at you, but this was impossible. Even as just an elite boss, Malaise ripped through my plethora of inspirations, immoblized me, confused me into attacking his pets, and then crippled me with fear (despite my liberal use of break-frees), while these wussy rent-a-cops fired pop guns at me and the PCPD pasted me with glue guns like I was an arts and crafts project.

So, I die a horrible, horrible death. I think I killed the cops, but I'm not sure. I either killed them or they disappeared when I went back for Malaise. But after I die, I wind up in a prison (not the Zig) in Brickstown. I bust out of prison, tear apart the cops in their own freakin' station, and run back to the bank to fight Malaise. Now, by this point, I'm completely out of inspirations, so I wing it and try to kill him anyway. I might've stood a chance if I could've landed a single secondary effect on him, but [censored] those little purple triangles, that is impossible. I couldn't even immobilize him with Midnight Grasp, let alone shut him up for a few seconds with Touch of Fear. So, I die again and log off.

In the end, I had fun tearing Paragon City apart. The cops are annoying as hell and need to be tweaked, and the ambush inside the prison needs to be thought out. Maybe the elite boss/arch-villain/hero shouldn't attack you until you get back out into the street? I think that would make Mayhem Missions a lot more fun, and a little easier.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Obviously side quests (re-capture the Villain, etc. ) will increase your time limit.

[/ QUOTE ]

I can't help but visualize the Safeguard Mission side quests as the "old lady's cat is stuck in a tree" sequence from the first scene in The Incredibles.

"Hmm. Nemesis forces are attacking City Hall, but... yeah, I've still got time."

[/ QUOTE ]

Indeed. When I first read States's comment, the first thing that came to mind is "Spidey Patrol". Spiderman spends a lot of time in the comics just swinging around New York handling every little crisis he comes across. Stopping muggings (or chasing down purse snatchers), saving people from burning buildings, stopping getaway cars, etc. I think we'll see something like that.

[/ QUOTE ]

Isn't that what we do normally? I mean, aside from the getaway car thing. Street hunting is stoping muggings and shake downs and saving people from burning buildings (in one very specific case). Safeguard missions sound like escort/protect missions. I'd love it if they were more, though, but either way I'm sure they'll be able to work in named villains just like they worked in named heroes in Mayhem missions.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Blah! Forget that!

Devs! Please Confirm Any Hero Content is Coming!!

[/ QUOTE ]

Only if you fork over 30 bucks for the pay expansion.

[/ QUOTE ]

What a travesty! Paying for content? [censored] that [censored]. That's [censored] unforgivable! I'm gonna' go slaughter a nursery ward in protest!

[ QUOTE ]
So its RED and a Rook or

_Castle_ ??????

[/ QUOTE ]

Gamester?

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Thats nothing compared to the unlockable Port Oakes contact. One that gives missions that cap at level 12 but in order to get them you need to trap ghosts which are level 12 themselves and worse still when enough go into the traps it spawns around eight level 15s with bosses.

Utterly pointless.

[/ QUOTE ]

I took the time to get the badge before I hit eleven and do Veluta's missions. They're nothing special, no badges either, but she gives you two story arcs and they both explain a bitof the history of the ghosts in the Rogue Isles, and expands on what's being done with them, by them, and to them in the present.

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't forget the anti-ghost gun and gernades.

[/ QUOTE ]

Which I still have and probably won't find a use for ever again. So now I have an amulet that summons fire imps, a bone that summons zombies, a gun that kills ghosts and a grenade that kills ghosts in my ninth power tray. I'm startin' a collection!

[ QUOTE ]
Thats nothing compared to the unlockable Port Oakes contact. One that gives missions that cap at level 12 but in order to get them you need to trap ghosts which are level 12 themselves and worse still when enough go into the traps it spawns around eight level 15s with bosses.

Utterly pointless.

[/ QUOTE ]

I took the time to get the badge before I hit eleven and do Veluta's missions. They're nothing special, no badges either, but she gives you two story arcs and they both explain a bitof the history of the ghosts in the Rogue Isles, and expands on what's being done with them, by them, and to them in the present.

Get a SG mate to take a newspaper mission with Mooks or Family and then load the mission with eight people way above the mission level. Run through and take out only the bosses, then leave and reset.

It's cheap, but it's the easiest way to get it as early as possible.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
How about having skills that provide these qualities to teams (especially in the wake of ED):

(snip suggestions @ 5% each)

None of these would break the dynamice of the game if stacked on a team of 8 and will encourage both teaming and linduce a level of the "old" hero vibe that we all felt prior to ED.

[/ QUOTE ]
Okay - if they implemented that, then what real incentive is there to the Items of Power? A bunch of people who run together all the time could just have these instead?

[/ QUOTE ]

Not that I agree with the poster you're replying to, but the real reason to acquire Items of Power is solely to open yourself up to being raided and to raiding others' bases. The small percentage of a buff given by them is insignificant for a constructive purpose while playing, but the idea of being able to steal a few and then more through raiding other heroes or villains bases is what the motivation behind the Cathedral and Items of Power is.

Doesn't matter. A hero doesn't murder, and Blue Steel murdered a man. There was no self-defense, he just flat-out murdered him in a fit of rage over a few casualities. I understand he's a police officer, and I understand that he might have lost some friends, but it still doesn't matter.

If someone shot my friend dead in cold blood and I murdered him in turn, I'd be sent to prison.

In comics, it's still unacceptable. The Joker crippled Jason Todd with a crowbar and set him on fire (officially, we're still debating whether or not the Jason Todd that's appeared in the comic again is the real thing). If Batman had him cornered in an alley without a way for the Joker to defend himself and he decided to slice his throat open with a Batarang, that would make Batman a murderer. Let's say Lex Luthor kills Lois, even though he wouldn't. If he murdered Lois and Superman found out about it, him frying Lex's heart out of his chest without Lex lifting a finger in defense is murder.

Alternatively, Superman killed Zod and his crew on an alternate Earth after they killed all of its six billion inhabitants. He did this because they threatened to do the same thing to his Earth and he knew they could and would. It was pre-emptive, if not self-defense. Same goes for Wonder Woman snapping Maxwell Lord's neck after he controlled Superman's mind. She knew he could and would do it again, so it was pre-emptive and self defensive.

Blue Steel beat a kid to death in a sewer. It wasn't heroism, it was murder. That's clear. And it's understandable, from a human perspective, but heroes have and always should hold themselves above normal people.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Great Story! I will never look at Blue Steel the same now....hmmmm....I guess he will use the same excuse Wonder Woman did..

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't see how. Wonder Woman killed a powerful telepath who could control Superman's mind. Blue Steel killed a pre-school telepath who could control some scrapyard robots.

[/ QUOTE ]

...Who was responsible for the death of multiple police officers.

[/ QUOTE ]

Unacceptable. How many people have the Joker or Lex Luthor killed? It doesn't matter, because a hero doesn't kill unless it's absolutely necessary, and Blue Steel obviously killed him in a rage, not because his hand was forced.

[ QUOTE ]
and "Some" junkyard robots? I dunno what game you're playing, but for their level, Clockworks are pretty nasty critters. The King is dangerous, no matter what his age.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm pretty sure I'm playing City of Heroes. Yes, some junk yard robots. More precisely, some robots created from parts found in a junk yard.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Ah, yeah. So they were probably like Freedom Phalanx Lite.

[/ QUOTE ]

But that means I was right. Reichsman wasn't in charge, he just liked being top dog. Which means Requiem could be there. I imagine something like Requiem using Reichsman to kill the Center and Requiem assuming complete control. So when Reichsman is released he might be fighting for Requiem...

[/ QUOTE ]

No, no, no. That doesn't mean you were right. Or I was right. Or anything. What we know is that Reichsman was the Nazi version of Statesman, and in his world the Axis defeated the Allies, creating Axis Amerika. Requiem, the Center, the Council, Nictus, SPIDER or Arachnos are all wild shots in the dark for their universe. Considering there's a seperate Council Earth, I would say it's a safe bet that Requiem and the Center didn't exist on Axis Amerika, existed but didn't quarrel, existed and died, or exist and haven't began their bids for power yet.

But either way, no one can be right about something that doesn't exist yet. You can make a decent guess though.

[ QUOTE ]
Great Story! I will never look at Blue Steel the same now....hmmmm....I guess he will use the same excuse Wonder Woman did..

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't see how. Wonder Woman killed a powerful telepath who could control Superman's mind. Blue Steel killed a pre-school telepath who could control some scrapyard robots.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
What i don't get is why they decided to make more villain backgrounds NOW that CoV is out. The only background that changed since launch was the 5th to council. Still, i hope they get more villain backgrounds soon. Maybe they will add the praetorians.

[/ QUOTE ]

Um...I think you just answered your own question.

We're adding to them because they are missing from the website, and we would like it to be complete. And fans have reacted pretty positively to learning more about the world of CoH/CoV...

Praetoerians are on my schedule...just not for a little while.

cheers,
Arctic_Sun

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually, I'd prefer NOT knowing more about Praetorians. I think this 'villain group' is abyssmally pathetic (and in a few cases, borderline psychotic). Insipid, cliche~, unimaginative and reads as 'filler' content.

In more fact, I'd appreciate a completely tangent story-arc/zone where I don't have to deal with any Praetorians whatsoever.

That's how badly written and conceived I think they are.

Cal2

[/ QUOTE ]

A brain in a jar isn't cliché? Robot minions are freakishly original? Welcome to comic books, son. If it's been done, it'll be done again at least twice. Nazis? Cults? Aliens? They're the marshmallows in the cereal of comic book fantasy. The Praetorians are no more ill-conceived than any other group in this game.

Ah, yeah. So they were probably like Freedom Phalanx Lite.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Personaly, I'm surpised Axis Amerika hasn't sent anyone through looking for him.

[/ QUOTE ]

Like I said, on his world he may have been the only super powered being left, so he wouldn't be opposed by anyone who could possibly be his equal or better. What good would sending humans to a planet filled with heroes do? Other than that, he personally tortured information out of Webb to decide his course in attacking Primal Earth. It's possible no one on his home world knows how to get to our world, making it harder for him to get back to his.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm going with the numberous times the 5th Colum contacted them looking for troops might have tipped them off by now. While it says he was the only superpowered being, I doubt that. I personaly believe Requiem was pulling his strings. I mean, what kind of leader charges into unknown territory to fight and take over. It seems more like a job you allocate to an army of soldiers and you go in after you have a secure foothold.

So I think someone in Axis Amerika is looking for his lost weapon.

[/ QUOTE ]

The 5th Column contacted them, not the other way around. As much as they need troops, I don't think Requiem would've allowed a constant link between the two worlds, probably because he feared another version of himself or another version of a higher ranking Nazi coming over into his territory and taking over. They were, most likely, simple troop retrieval efforts.

As for Reichsman being the only being on his Earth with powers, if he truly gained his powers the way Statesman did, then I wouldn't doubt it if he killed off anyone more powerful than himself, including any versions of our 5th Column, like Requiem. To remain unchecked, he would have had to remove any threat to his position of power.

[/ QUOTE ]

Good points. But based on the first dimensional arc where it's revealed they can pin point dimesional corrdinates and more accurately with more contacts, anyone power hunger is going to be looking.

And I'm not saying in it's Requiem, but we've seen how Tyrant rules. I'm betting that Reichsman reports to someone. He doesn't so much appear to be a ruler as a military enforcer. Sorta like our Statesman, just working for a different goverment.

[/ QUOTE ]

Going on the idea that the only difference between Primal Earth and Axis Amerika is that Marcus Cole was a Nazi before gaining his powers, presumably the same way, if America lost the war but continued the same course our world did, there would probably be a Sister Psyche, Backalley Brawler, possibly even a Raymond Keyes as an up-and-coming scientist, but no Synapse or Miss Liberty. Maybe a Numina. Anyway, with the course of the world following the same basic series of events as our own, set in a Nazi-controlled America, there should, conceivably, be more super humans. The fact that none followed him through suggests that there aren't. If there were, wouldn't the military want them under their thumb, too? If Reichsman was allowed to kill them, it's because no one has the power to stop him.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Personaly, I'm surpised Axis Amerika hasn't sent anyone through looking for him.

[/ QUOTE ]

Like I said, on his world he may have been the only super powered being left, so he wouldn't be opposed by anyone who could possibly be his equal or better. What good would sending humans to a planet filled with heroes do? Other than that, he personally tortured information out of Webb to decide his course in attacking Primal Earth. It's possible no one on his home world knows how to get to our world, making it harder for him to get back to his.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm going with the numberous times the 5th Colum contacted them looking for troops might have tipped them off by now. While it says he was the only superpowered being, I doubt that. I personaly believe Requiem was pulling his strings. I mean, what kind of leader charges into unknown territory to fight and take over. It seems more like a job you allocate to an army of soldiers and you go in after you have a secure foothold.

So I think someone in Axis Amerika is looking for his lost weapon.

[/ QUOTE ]

The 5th Column contacted them, not the other way around. As much as they need troops, I don't think Requiem would've allowed a constant link between the two worlds, probably because he feared another version of himself or another version of a higher ranking Nazi coming over into his territory and taking over. They were, most likely, simple troop retrieval efforts.

As for Reichsman being the only being on his Earth with powers, if he truly gained his powers the way Statesman did, then I wouldn't doubt it if he killed off anyone more powerful than himself, including any versions of our 5th Column, like Requiem. To remain unchecked, he would have had to remove any threat to his position of power.

[ QUOTE ]
Personaly, I'm surpised Axis Amerika hasn't sent anyone through looking for him.

[/ QUOTE ]

Like I said, on his world he may have been the only super powered being left, so he wouldn't be opposed by anyone who could possibly be his equal or better. What good would sending humans to a planet filled with heroes do? Other than that, he personally tortured information out of Webb to decide his course in attacking Primal Earth. It's possible no one on his home world knows how to get to our world, making it harder for him to get back to his.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Will they change the clue text for the first Clockwork mission, now? It'd be odd if my female spine scrapper still fit the bill as the Clockwork King's assailant.

Also, is anyone else sorta' taken back by the story? Blue Steel outright killed a man, someone he could easily has just disabled and taken into custody. That's dark, even for today's heroes. That, and the fact that Malaise was brain-washed into becoming a hero, sort of darkens the overall feel of the world Paragon's set in.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, Malaise was techincaly had two personalities, one evil, one good, and the evil one was dominate. Sister Psyche surpressed the evil side.

As for Blue Steel, yeah, he's kinda evil now. Everyone! Lets go start an angry mob in Kings Row!

[/ QUOTE ]

Right, schizophrenic, but what did Psyche do? She constantly used her powers to supress his other personality. They didn't get him professional psychiatric help after that, they just kept Psyche on task to keep him brain-washed, and the moment that link was broken during the task force, he flips out and goes back to being evil.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's a good point, of course, we are assuming that this works for Psychics who's other personality is almost phyical. But Psyche isn't the best person as she has freely admited (okay, that's paraphrased from Hickman's arc) and took over the body of another women to keep on fighting crime. Granted Aurora was honored to hold her, but it also pretty much ruined her mariage for two years. Malaise was greatful to have his evil side surpressed, even if it meant a cnstant link.

Assumption, Sister Psyche is acctualy Mother Mayhem or is only a few steps away from being her.

[/ QUOTE ]

One of his personalities was greatful, I'm sure, but the other one was pissed off at being supressed, and now that it's dominant again we should all expect him to retaliate, somethin' fierce.

And it's been a while since I fought Mother Mayhem, but is she still Aurora, or have they replaced her with an evil Sister Psyche?

[/ QUOTE ]

Still Aurora, or as she's called on Preatorian Earth, Nothern Lights.

As for my agrgument, I think you misunderstood. I'm saying Psyche isn't a good person trying to do what she can to help people while being an amazingly powerful Psychic. I think it supports the theory that there are some definate problems within the Phalanx. She has power enough to help Malaise, she decided to use them and did what she thought was right, which in this case senerio probably wasn't the right thing to do.

[/ QUOTE ]

What argument? Misunderstanding? I said she abused her powers by mind-leashing Malaise, like Zatanna lobotomizing Dr. Light and the Society in the Justice League. And there definitely are problems with the Freedom Phalanx, if they're really anything like the heroes Waid and Hickman wrote about. She may have thought it was the only solution, but it was a bad one. It's become a theme in comics these days, and it reflects a dark aspect of our fake comic book world here in Paragon.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Someone's gotta' break Reichsman out of his cell, and he most likely had access to a lot of important numbers as a Freedom Phalanx member.

[/ QUOTE ]

That makes me wonder, Lord Recluse hates Statesman, would that hate expand to alternate versions of Statesman? Would Lord Recluse see an evil Statesman (Like Reichsman or Tyrant) as a threat or ally? I mean, in a one-on-one fight, Recluse is a half-notch below Statesman (Comic book fight based), and I doubt Tyrant or Reichsman would share the world with Recluse.

Always makes me wonder how Lord Recluse would view his heroic double from the Preatorian's world, and what his name would be (Lord Auger maybe? and I used Thesaurus.com to come up with that :P )

[/ QUOTE ]

Tyrant wouldn't abide sharing power with Recluse, as he was constantly at odd with both Neuron and Anti-Matter on his Earth, so on Primal Earth I doubt he and Recluse could work together. As for Reichsman, we don't know anything about him. He's a super powered Nazi version of Statesman, who may or may not have gotten his powers from the well, and may or may not have a Lord Recluse on his Earth. He led the Amerika Korps through Portal Court, and was apparently the only super being in his nation (meaning there weren't any Nazi versions of Miss Liberty or Synapse or anyone on his world that came with him), so he might be territorial as well, meaning he might not work with Recluse. However, he's alone in this world with no real way back home on his own, so allies wouldn't hurt.